HailyKortekaas

Our first tour in Venice was the Escursioni alle Isole or "Excusion of the Islands." We met up with our tour guide at around 9:30 in the morning before heading out onto the Bacino di S. Marco. The first island we stopped at was Murano which took about 40 minutes to travel to by boat. Murano is famous for the art of glass blowing and the pieces made there are sold all over Venice. We were given a short, but very impressive, presentation in the glass workshop. The glassmith first showed everyone how he creates a small vase and then (extrememly quickly) moulds a glass horse. The time it took for him to shape the horse with all of the detail was less than a minute! Avery managed to get a video on her camera. We ... read more

As it was our final day in Florence we set out after breakfast with a long to do list. We wanted to make a number of stops at different attractions and get as much shopping done as possible. Fortunately, everything in Florence is within walking distance so we were able to accomplish almost everything. The only disappointment was the gardens which we planned to see after dinner. When I looked up the hours of operation it was actually closed on Mondays. We did however, get to see the Palazzo della Signoria home of the Renaissance sculpture David created by Michelangelo between 1501 and 1504. As well as the Ponte Vecchio or "Old Bridge" that extends over the Arno River. After a little sightseeing we did a lot of shopping. Florence is known for its leather which ... read more

I knew leaving Positano was a bad idea. I wanted to cry as we stood for the last time on our beautiful hotel terrace. The ride back down the mountain was depressing and just when we thought the train would be our favorite mode of transportation, disaster struck. We all knew navigating our way through the Naples train station would not be pleasant but the people there are soooooo frustrating. It was worse than the beach in Barcelona. Every two seconds we were being harassed for money by people both selling items or just straight out demanding it. When we finally found out platform we were confused where to get on the train. A little old man we thought was working at the station showed us where to get on and helped Avery and Emily carry ... read more

Capri and Ana Capri tours today!!! I'm sorry this is taking me so long to write but so much happened that I could probably write a book about it. I will try not to go into too much detail because the pictures will speak for themselves. The tour was probably one of the most amazing ventures for all of us. I'm not one for big crowds and being herded like caddle through tiny street packed with busses BUT it was worth it because everything about the tour was spectactular. We started off on an insnaely early/terrifying cab ride down the mountain side to the city of Sorrento. Sorrento is definitely more spacioius than Positano but its not as high so the view is no where near beautiful. We were also told that Sorrento has an exciting ... read more

Today was supposed to be more sighseeing but we ran into a few issues. First off Emily got serious sun stroke from the beach yesterday. The heat is insane here. I don't feel like eating sometimes just because it is so hot. She decided to stay in the air conditioning for the beginning of the day. Avery and I started out with the intention of seeing another cathedral, however we forgot to bring clothing to cover our shoulders. We didn't have that problem yesterday so we didn't think to pack a sweater or something. Regardless, we took a lot of pictures of the buildings and statues outside of the building. In the afternoon Emily was feeling better so we all went shopping together in La Rambla and then out for dinner. We are looking forward to ... read more